John DeDakis says, "Success is not fame, it's not money, it's just being in sync with who you really are." He is definitely in sync with himself.
It hasn’t been easy, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s a talented mystery novelist who kept at it through at least 10 rewrites of his first novel and despite being turned down by 39 agents before finding the right one. He says he kept at it because he thought that he had a good story (he does). He’s now in the final stages before publishing his 6th novel Enemies Domestic this summer and working on his memoir.
In Part 2, John talks about his books which draw heavily from his first career as a journalist and how the suicide of his sister Georgia and the death of his and his wife Cindy's son Stephen from a heroin overdose found their way into his books. He writes from the perspective of 20-something female journalist Lark Chadwick. As you can see, John is neither female nor in his 20s but he pulls it off nicely.
If you haven't read (or listened to Candace Fitzgerald read the Lark Chadwick books aloud on Audible - they make a great road trip listen) Fast Track, Bluff, Troubled Water, Bullet in the Chamber, and Fake - you're in for a real treat. And I can hardly wait for Enemies Domestic.
Mystery Novelist John DeDakis on His Even Better Second Life, Part 2